Rocio Hernandez and Rodrigo Morales were strangers before Wednesday
morning, when they sat side by side in immigration lawyer Jackie
Watson’s South Austin law office.

Though they’re from different
regions in Mexico and came to the U.S. under different circumstances,
they quickly found that they have a common goal: They both hope that
their applications for deferred action will survive the months of
scrutiny by immigration officials.

Hernandez and Morales are just
two of thousands of illegal immigrants in Texas who became eligible this
week to apply under the policy change the Obama administration
announced in June. Being accepted for deferred action would grant them
relief from deportation proceedings and allow them to work for two years
if they meet certain guidelines. It’s not legal status or citizenship,
they acknowledge. But at least it’s a chance to come out of the shadows
and live — even temporarily — with more comfort in the country they have
known almost all of their lives.

“I think it’s a really big
deal,” said Morales, 17. “I have seen on TV how people are scared and
don’t want to apply for deferred action because they are afraid that if
they don’t get accepted then they will get deported. But I think it’s
more important to try.”

Deferred action may be approved for
certain immigrants currently in the country illegally and who arrived
before they were 16 and who were younger than 31 as of the June 15
announcement. They must have graduated or currently be enrolled in
school, have earned a GED or have been honorably discharged from the
armed forces. They must have also lived in the country consistently
since June 15, 2007, and have never been convicted of a serious
misdemeanor, three misdemeanors or a felony. The program is under the
purview of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees
legal immigration to the U.S.

Texas is second to California in the number of immigrants
who could immediately apply — about 152,550 to California’s 298,000,
according to the Immigration Policy Center. Applications for deferred
action and the work permits cost a total of $465.

Morales came to
Texas in 2006 from Mexico City on a tourist visa with his family and has
been in the country illegally since it expired shortly after he
arrived. He’s a senior at an Austin-area high school and had his sights
set on majoring in theater after he graduates. Hernandez, 21, was
brought here by relatives when she was 6 from Michoacán after her father
died. She’s never had legal status, but she graduated from an Austin
public school in 2011. She works at a loan office in Austin and says her
employers told her she has their support, which she says may translate
to a better life if her application is approved.

“They told me, 'We’ll be more than happy to work with you and give you more money and give you more hours,'” Hernandez said.

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Watson
said Hernandez’s situation is “textbook” and that she should get
approved. But the attorney said it with an air of caution because
nothing is ever “black and white” with immigration. That’s evident when
Hernandez talks about her sister, who is also in the country illegally
but isn’t planning to apply for deferred action because she never
finished high school.

“Don’t give up,” Watson told Hernandez.
“We’ll put her butt back in school, and then we can apply for, her so
never give up, don’t make the determination by yourself. Make sure that
you are not eligible before you give up.”

Hernandez and Morales
could be considered textbook, so much so that Watson said they might not
necessarily need an attorney. But because deferred action is
discretionary, Watson said some applicants should heed legal advice.

“If
you have ever had contact with immigration officials, good or bad, and
that includes deportation proceedings, you’ve been arrested, you’ve been
removed, talk to an attorney,” she said.

“If you have ever been
arrested criminally — and don’t take it for granted that nothing
happened or my record was clean — don’t take that for granted. If you
have ever talked to a cop that you didn’t call because you weren’t the
victim, you should probably talk to an attorney.”

Watson doesn’t know how many applicants she’ll speak with or how many
will seek her advice — but she said she’s fielded hundreds of
inquiries since the policy was announced. That said, she is also
advising some potential applicants to wait.

“Take it slow; you
only get one shot, there’s no appeal,” she said. “It’s not clear if you
can submit another application if you’ve been denied, with more
evidence. But why would you want to lose your $465? So don’t feel like
you’re in a rush to get that application in because you want to be one
of the first ones in.”

But a slower approach wasn’t as appealing for Hernandez and Morales, who sat before Watson together wearing giddy smiles.

“Why wait? Morales said. “If the opportunity is here and it’s right there at your reach, then why wait to grab it?”

'Magnet for fraud'

The
deferred action announcement has drawn the anger of Republicans who
call the move amnesty and who have assailed President Obama for making
the election-year move without congressional approval.

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San
Antonio, has sent out statements nearly every week since the program
was announced, accusing Obama of catering to illegal immigrants ahead of
U.S. citizens.

“With Americans’ jobs on the line, the
Administration should take all the necessary steps to protect their
livelihoods. Because there is no fee for the amnesty application,
American taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for President Obama’s
amnesty when the Administration comes running to Congress for more money
to clear the backlog created by the program,” Smith, the chairman of
the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Tuesday.

“American
taxpayers should not be forced to bail out illegal immigrants and
President Obama’s fiscally irresponsible policies. How can the
Administration justify implementing a fraud-ridden program that will
deprive Americans of jobs and cost taxpayers? “

Proponents of the
measure, however, say deferred action is a way to use the federal
government’s limited resources on finding and removing dangerous
criminal aliens while allowing people brought to this country through no
fault of their own a chance to succeed.

“Childhood arrivals who
meet the guidelines and whose cases are deferred will now be able to
live without fear of removal, and be able to more fully contribute their
talents to our great nation,” USCIS director Alejandro Mayorkas said
in a statement Wednesday.

The controversy isn’t lost on Watson — or any other potential applicant, like Morales and Hernandez.

“I have hope," Morales said. "I never lose hope about the greater good."

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